Snap-fastener.



Je. c. s-NYDER.'

SNAP FASTENEH. APPLYCATKON FILED APR. 2|, 1915.-

y Patented Dec. 28"; 1915.

www5:5552626523212 AHORA/ys GEORGE C. SNYDER, F NEW YORK, N. Y.

SNAP-FASTENER.

. Specification of Letters Patent. Patnted Dec. 2S, 1915.

Application filed April 21, 1915. Serial No. 22,741.

and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, land exactdescription of the invention,.such as will enable'others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

Thisl invention relates to snapfasteners, and has for its object toprovide a fastener of'this type which is especially adapted for use onarticles whichhave to bel laundried, such as shirts, undergarments andthe like. As will hereinafter Ibe. clear, however, the improved fasteneris not limited to use on such articles, but may be used 'on all articleswhere snap'lfasteners are required.v

^ With this object in view, the invention consists in providing a socketmember formed froma single piece of sheet-metal, to 4 simplify theconstruction and to reduce the cost of manufacture, and having aplurality of spring fingers to engage a stud member, to be hereinafterdescribed. Thel socket member is so shaped that the spring fingerspossess a maximum degree ofresiliency andv are protected 'fromharmduring laundrying by another portion of.4 the socket member which isdesigned to take and -withstand the compressiony forces incident tolaundrying, and thereby relieve-the springfingers of such destructiveforces. Not only does such portion ofthe socket member protect thespring fingers themselves against these destructive forces, but alsoserves, due to its peculiar construction hereinafterA described, torender the whole socket member rigid and damage-proof, so that no harmwill be done tothe same ,during laundrying. Furthermore, the stud memberis so constructedwitli respect to the socket member that when the twoare pressed together, two abutting parts on the stud and socket memberswill act asl stops after the two members have been engaged to positivelylimit further movement of the members toward each other, therebyrelieving the spring fingers above mentioned of any undue strainscausedby the members l ofthe fastener Abeing forced into closer vproximity than is actually necessaryto en'' gage the members. With thisfeature in mind, the head of the stud member is so constructed that whenthe members of the fastener are in their closest relation, the highestpoints of the stud member will be so located in vvthe socket member thatsuch high points will not be appreciably felt by the finger of theperson pressing the members together. In other words, in the closestrelation-of the stud and socket members, the top 0f the stud i memberlies in substantially the same plane with the surface of the fabric towhich the socket member is attached. y

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which iFigure l yis a vertical section showing lthe stud and socket members' ofthe improved snap fastener, each being applied toja portion of fabricand being shown in vposition ready to be snapped or engaged; Fig@ 1s asimilar View showing the stud member inserted in the socket member;Fig.'3 is a* top plan view of the stud member; Fig. 4

is a top plan view of the socket member;-v

F ig. 5 is a perspective view showing the stud and socket members of thefastener lsewed 7' nearthe edges of two portions of fabric to be u nitedby thev fasteners; and Fig. 6 is a vertical sectlon of a portion. of amodified form of socket member in which it is applied to the fabricmechanically instead of lby y sewing."

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the'socket member,denotedgenerallyv by the reference character A, comprises a single 'piece'ofsheet-metal bent to such form that the cross section of the annularsecket member is substantially arch-shaped. This is for the purpose ofproviding an outer `circular wall l, which, as will be noted, is sub-vstantially at right angles to the plane of the This substantially fabricindicated at F. straight wall, -which`wi1l hereinafter be termed thevertical wall, for convenience, l

spaces the socket member its proper distance froin'the vfabric F and isdesigned to -receive compression` forces incidentto laundrying.

The inner. part of the sheet-metal socket member'is formed into aplurality of inte'- gral spring fingers A2, which, as will be 'notedfrom Fig.'1, are inclined downwardly toward the. axis of the socketmember to form a tapering opening into which, the stud member maybeinserted. The 'extremital portions of the spring fingers 2 are bentbackwardly, as indicated at 3. to forni a circular series of roundedshoulders below the plane of the upper 4, which are designed toengagewith theproper part of thel stud member, as will hereinafterappear. l

' The socket member shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 is adapted to be sewed tothe fabric, and to accommodate the threads, a` plurality of tongues 5are stamped from the metal of the socket and -are turned inwardly yto,A

lie closely against tlieverti'cal-wall 1. The bending back of thetongues 5 in this manner forms a plurality of thread-receiving openings6 through which the threads 7 may pass when the socket member is sewedin place. It will be noted that by forming the thread openings in thismanner', a

rounded edge is presented to the threads,, as 'shown .at 8, which has notendency to cut or injure the threads. Furthermore', these rounded edgestongues 5 inwardly, lie in-a plane which is surface of the socket memberand, therefore, thethreads passing over these rounded edges. 8 will becounter-sunk and thus additionally protected from injury.

The stud member, which is preferably4 fused in combination with thesocket member above described, isindi'cated at B, and comprises atubular shank portion a, having a basal flange b, which, in turn,-is'provided with a peripheral bead c, the eXtreme peripheral4 edge a3of the flange being bent backwardly upon i'tselffduring theforma tion ofthe gbead, as will be clearfrom an inspectionof Fig. 1. vided adjacentthe bead o with al plurality of spaced .thread-receiving openings e.".The threads serving to attach the studv member to the fabric are passedthrough the openings c and around thebead c, as clearly shown in Fig. 1.

' p The head portion of the studmember is concave, as lshown at F, andthe edge portion of the stud member is upset sufficiently4 to form acircular bead or projection g.

Whenthe stud member is inserted in the socket member, the former willpass into the latteruntila portion h 'of the'flange b of the stud membercontacts with the highf together. It will be noted, however, thaty asthe portions 9 and h are in contact', the stud and socket memberscannotl be moved into closer relation than that shown in Fig. 2. Theseparts 9 and L, therefore, take all compression forces after the membersare engaged, thereby relieving the spring fingers of this burden. Inorder to accom` -`Aplish this,

8, formed by bending the The flange b .is pro-` as indicated at 12.

however, the length of the .stud shank must be so chosen with respect.to the 'length of the spring fingers that the parts 9 and #will bejustin contacting relation when the portions l of the spring fingersengage behind the bead g of thestud member. The length of the said shankis `also so chosen that when the parts 9 and it are vincontacting-relation, the highest points indicated at of the stud memberw'ill lie almosh in the same 'plane as the surface of the fabric F, towhich the socket member is attached. Even if the highest portions z' ofthe stud member do project slightly beyond the plane of the surface. ofthe fabric F, the stud member will not beperce'ptibly felt by the thumbor finger of the person pressing the members-together, due to the`- iconcave shape of the head of the stud,V and the resulting relativelysmall' area which would be 'effective in making the presence of the studmember felt as it is forced into the socket member. .If the head of thestud lmember were bulged outwardly and were not constructedsubstantially as shown in the drawing, the stud member would be forcedagainst the finger or thumb as theV members are engaged, and this hasbeen found to be an objectionable feature of many of the rior snapfasteners.

In the modified form of the socket mem.-

lber shown in Fig. 6, means is provided for 'attaching the same to thefabric mechanically instead of by sewing the same in place. For thispurpose, a plurality of tines 10 are stamped from .the metal o-f thesocket and bent inwardly and downwardly.l The eX- tremital portions ofthe tines are sharpened to be capable, of penetrating 'the fabric F.Vhen a socket member ofv this character is applied to the fabric, theextremities of the tines are forced through the fabric and are then bentoutwardly, as indicated at 11, and then upwardly through the fabricagain, In this manner, the socket' member may be mechanically at-.tached to the fabric, notwithstanding the fact that the entire socketmember is made of one piece of sheet-metal. l j

Due to the cross sectional arch-shape of i' the socket member, it isobvious that the same will stand great stresses, and that the springfingers 2 do not have to take any of 'such stresses. Furthermore,thelspring fingers 2 are completely surrounded by and inclcsed in thevertical wall 1 ofthe socket member, and thereby protectedfrom injury.

The specific shape of the socket member also permits the spring fingersto possess the maximum degree vof resiliency, as vthe metal ofthe socketis always bent in the same direction in the making thereof, and not asingle bend in the metal of the socket member vdetrimentally affects theresiliency of the spring fingers, as is the case with most ofthesnapfasteners now use. It will also be noted that the'sp'ring fingers donot engage at. their extremities with the stud` member, but that theslightly 4rounded shoulders 4, caused'by the bending of the eXtremitalportions 3 of the fingers, engage the stud member'. As theradialprojection bends or shoulders .4 of the springfingers coperatewith this' bead, no sharp edges onl either` the vrstud or socket member.areA pre-4 I sented to the' coperating parts. of 'the'othe'r membenf-Ifl raw, sharp edgesl of the-spring fingers were allowed to act 'uponthe stud metal -of the' stud memberuntil'they becamev .worn and roundedto a certain extent, but

to properly grip the f head of the stud being'concaved toward the thenthey would fail head of the stud. y

When lthe socket members'are sewed'to the fabric, they are easilylheldin place during the sewing operation and do not tend 'to' slipfandslide over thesurface of the fabric.v The sewing of the socket member inplace, is,l therefore, vmade comparatively easy, which is greatly infavor of its domesticuse.

Obviously* numerous modifications and' changes may be madelnthedetails-.of con-` struction als above described, without departingfro'm the spirit or scope of the -invention as defined in the'vaccompanying claims.

What I claim is :-v 1. snap fastener comprising an annular socket memberwhich is arch-shaped in crosssection and provided 'with -a plurality sof spring fingers inclined from the crown of the arch toward the baseof: the socket the eXtremital portions of saidspring fingers are adaptedto engage, said stud memvber having a portion with which thecrown of thearch of the socket member isadapted to contact when thespring fingers soengage behind said radially projecting portion of the stud to transmitall compression forces to the crown of the arch of the socket member. s

2. A snap fastener comprising an annular socket member which -isarch-shaped in cross section and provided with a plurality of springfingers inclined froml the crownof the arch toward 'the base4 ofthesocket member, and a stud member having a radially projecting portionspaced from the base of the-stud member and behind which the extremitalportions of said spring fin. gers are adapted to engage, said studmember having a portion with Which-the crown of the arch of the socketmember is adapted to contact when -the spring fingers so engage which issubstantially arch-shaped in cross section, .the outer wall beingsubstantially f at right angles'to the base of the socket memtoward thebasethereof. i

- rightangles tothe base of the socket memforces.

" ifo'rmed behind 'Said radiauy projecting portion' of the stud totransmit all compression forces to the crown of the arch ofthe socketmemjber,the'distancebetween said portion of the jstud @member and itsradially projecting .portionbeing so chosen with respect to theydistance betweenthe crown vofthe arch of `member to form a tapering'stud-receiving opening, and a stud member having a head portion designedto be engaged by the eX- tremital portions of saidspring fingers, the

base .of the stud member, for the purpose described.V`lv

4. A' socket member for -snap fasteners comprising an .annular ring-likemember ber, anda plurality of s ring fingers inclined from the crown oft e socket member 5.AV socket member for. snapgfa'stene'rs comprising i'an annular,v ring-likemember which is substantially arch-shaped in`cross section, the outer wall being substantially at ber, andaf'plurality of"'spring fingers in-v clined from the crown .of the socketmember toward theba'se thereof, sid outer wall being of sufficientheight to relieve said spring fingers ofv "substantially all compression69A socket member for snap fasteners comprising an annular'A ring-likemember which is substantially arch-shaped in cross sectionandlformedfrom a single piece of sheet-metal, the' outer wall being substantially,ai-right 'angles to'the base of the socket;A member and the inner wallbeing y into a plurality of inclined. spring 7. IA socket: member- .for'snap' fasteners `comprising an annular Cring-like member which issubstantially arch-.shaped in cross section and formedfrom -a -singlepiece of sheet-metal, lthe outer wall being substantially at rightangles to the base of the- -socket member and the inner wall'. beingformed intoa plurality of -inclined spring ngers, the eXtremital.portions of said spring fingers being bent toform a circular series ofv'shoulders for engagement with a studl member. y 8. A socketl memberfor snap fasteners comprising an annular ring-like membef which issubstantially arch-shaped in cross 130 25 .each of Which is rounded toprevent vcutting of the threads passing over the same.

. device and turned backl against the same to Vform theaforesaid'openings and to provide section, the outer Wall serving tospace the top of the socket member from the fabric to which the memberis secured and to form an annular protecting casing, and a plurality ofspring ingersinclined from the y top of the socket member toward thebase4 thereof, said spring fingers being inclosedv and protected -bysaid outer Wall of the socket member.

9.. A fastening device made of-sheet-metal and having a plurality ofthread-reeeiving` openings formed by a series of tongues stampe from themetal of the fastening rounded edges over which the securing 'threadsmay pass.4

y10. A fastening device made of sheet'y metal and having a circular Walldisposed substantially at right angles to the base of the fasteningdevice, al plurality .of tongues stamped from the metal of thefastening.

device and bent inwardly and downwardly,

l against said circular 'Wall to form a series of thread-receivingopenings, one edge of 11. A` metallic socket member forvsna-p fastenerscomprising an annular ring-likev i member whichissubstantially'arch-shaped in cross section, their-outer Wall beingsubstan-tially at right angles tothe'base of the socket member and theinner Wall being formed into a plurality'of spring fingers inclined fromthe top of the vsocket member toward the baser thereof, Aanda pluralityof Atongues stamped from the metal of the socket member and 'bentinwardly and downwardly against said outer Wall to form threads.

12.1K socket member for lsnap fasteners` lcomprising an annularring-like member which issubstantially arch-shapedm cross section, saidmember having a plurality of thread-receiving openings formed therein sothat the edge of each opening over Which the threads pass :lies in aplane Whichis below the plane of the top of the' socket member,

substantially as and for thepurpose described. I l

In testimony whereof I aiiiX my signature.

' IGEORGE C. SNYDER.

